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Allowing and Assisting Patients to Die: The Perspectives of Oncology Practitioners

Author

Pierce, Susan F.

Bibliographic Citation

Journal of Advanced Nursing. 1999 Sep; 30(3): 616-622.

Abstract

The moral distinctions between prolonging life, allowing for a
dignified death, and assisting patients to die (hastening death) are
troublesome to health practitioners. On 26 June 1997 the United States Supreme
Court ruled that individuals do not have a constitutional right to
physician-assisted suicide, but that individual states can legislate their
preferences. Given this ruling it becomes important to ascertain the opinions
of practitioners caring for persons who are at the end of their life. The data
from interviews with 11 nurses and 10 physicians, who practice in the field of
oncology, revealed issues associated with the care of dying persons. How
health professionals integrated their perspectives of science/data with their
perspectives on persons and personal goals affected the vigour with which they
would institute treatment for the terminal patient. Further, ethical
uncertainty dominated the decision making of all participants in this study
when they were confronted with the question of assisting/hastening patients'
dying.